Digital transformation is all about utilizing the wonders of technology to transform corporate ecosystems, create leaner operations and free people to prioritize on the most important and complex tasks –Forrester.

These technological tools may include blockchain, big data, cloud computer, AI, IoT and machine learning. 

This transformative initiative may require a change management plan to effectively shift the way people think and interact with customers.  The breakdown of organizational silos (information and ideas must circulate freely and exchanged in an open format for greater collaboration) fosters innovative thought and generates new solutions to age old problems, especially in the consumer space. 

General statistics for reorientation

• Mckinsley reported that less than 30% of all companies fail when implementing a technological transformation and only 16% succeed at maintaining or improving a company’s success rate while sustaining long term gains. 

• Even the companies operating digitally savvy industries like in tech, media and telecom industries report a 26% success rate while traditional industries like oil, pharmaceuticals and gas fall way behind at success rates of 4%-11%. 

• At organizations with fewer than 100 employees, respondents are 2.7 times more likely to report a successful digital transformation than those with 50 000 or more employees. 
• Those that do, have 21 best practices in 5 main categories : leadership, capability building, empowering workers, upgrading tools, and communication. These categories point companies in the right direction as to how to implement a successful digital transformation.

Counterintuitively, studies show that companies that employ more technologies are more successful at digital transformation although the execution process is more complicated and has more opportunities to fail. They are also companies that use more sophisticated technologies that may include artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and advanced neural machine-learning techniques.

Nominate new digital-savvy leaders for the forefront

During the transitional period, companies often enlist new leaders 70% of the time, to help accelerate the process and lead with a new future facing mindset. The new leaders of this management team are usually familiar with digital technologies like a chief digital officer.  The CEO must be digitally savvy and dedicated full-time to the change effort.  

Foster capabilities for the future workforce 

Developing specific talent and skills in the workforce is one of the most important factors in the change effort. Management must be clear about the roles and requirements of each employee while ensuring they are aligned with the transformation goal.  Integrators and managers must tie together traditional and digital parts of the business. They must hire the right people with the right digital skills and invest in innovative campaigns that target these employees, whether that be games that have hidden messages in the source code or hosting “hackathons” where hackers can showcase their skills in real time.

 Empower people to work digitally

Managers should encourage employees to “have a say” and take some ownership in the digitization process and where it might be adopted.  By doing so, it empowers employees and ensures a 1.4x greater success rate. The requirements for digital transformations include increased calculated risk-taking, all while envisioning the customer as their first priority and the centre of every decision. These cultural and behavioral changes must be continually positively reinforced and supported by management for these new ways to be successfully incorporated into every day working activities. For digital transformation to be successful, businesses should encourage things like continuous learning or an open work environment.  Employees also must experiment with new ideas like rapid prototyping. As they say “fail fast, succeed faster.”  Employees must be allowed to learn from mistakes and challenge the current status quo ways of working.

A digital upgrade for daily tools

The key is to ensure collaboration. The organization must make these digital tools accessible and self-serving for everyone. They must modify their standard operating procedures to include new technologies like blockchain technologies, online course enrolment, remote work and the use of digital badges. Lastly, data-based decision making and the use of interactive tools must take greater precedence.

Communicate frequently via both digital and traditional modalities

The change management story must be rich and detailed with a clear narrative outlining the benefits, the direction and rationale.

Senior leaders must communicate a clear message that underlines the need for this urgent change:  they have to have clear targets for the KPI and also, a strict timeline for the transformation.  Senior managers and leaders also must consider the medium of the message or perhaps, like in every case, “the medium is the message.” It’s best to use digital and remote methods like Zoom or Slack to communicate with remote workers rather than traditional in-person methods.

A change transformation plan with a detailed narrative arc will ensure a successful digitization, enabling streamlined processes, engaged productive employees and a better bottom line. 

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